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Nissan Creates Guesthouse with Autonomous Furniture

Japanese carmaker Nissan is opening a pop-up ryokan – a traditional Japanese guesthouse – which features autonomous self-parking furniture and accessories.

The ProPILOT Park Ryokan concept is designed to promote the company’s ProPILOT autonomous parking system, first unveiled in its Nissan LEAF hatchback in October 2017. The ryokan demonstrates this technology through slippers, tables and tatami floor cushions that autonomously self-tidy and return to a set home position at the push of a button.

In vehicles, the ProPILOT Park technology uses four high-resolution cameras and 12 sonar sensors to anticipate surrounding obstructions. At the ryokan, each smart object moves to its designated home position by communicating with ceiling cameras using image-processing technology. The slippers have small wheels pushed into the base of the shoe that cannot be felt when worn.

Ryokans are an icon of traditional Japanese culture. By appropriating this setting, Nissan hopes to illustrate the symbiosis of new technology in historical and existing landscapes, and encourage the public to feel more comfortable about autonomous driving.

ProPILOT Park Ryokan, located southwest of Tokyo, will be open for one night only on March 24 2018. Guests are being selected through a social media contest, and must use Twitter hashtags to apply for the experience.

For more on how companies are using branded spaces to become hospitality hosts in work and leisure settings, read Tomorrow’s Wandering Workers. For another example in how Nissan is using concept campaigns to exhibit innovation and creativity, read our blog post about the company’s sweat-sensitive car.